You have nothing to lose but your LBM

MANILA, Philippines - Diarrhea, or loose bowel movement (LBM), is a common ailment that millions of Filipinos have experienced at one point or another.

Since it is usually remedied by over-the-counter medication, diarrhea is a condition that most people easily dismiss or do not worry about. However, for some individuals, the condition occurs more frequently over a period of time.  Worse, blood is present in their stool.

Recurrent bloody diarrhea should not be ignored or overlooked because it may already be a symptom of more serious gastrointestinal conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or worse, colorectal cancer.

Initially thought to have afflicted mostly Caucasians only, incidents of IBD have been on the rise in other regions as well, specifically in the Philippines, in the past 15 years.

IBD is generally characterized by long-standing bouts of diarrhea, often with blood present in the excrement. IBD presents itself in two clinical forms — ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Visual examination of the large intestines through colonoscopy in Crohn’s disease reveals a patchy distribution of longitudinal and deep ulcers in the lumen of the large intestines, usually associated with stricture formation.

Ulcerative colitis, on the other hand, shows generalized superficial ulcerations involving contiguous regions, if not the entire, large intestine. These changes are caused by long years of repeated episodes of active bowel inflammation, alternating between exacerbations or active ulcerations and remissions. There is a small but significant risk of colorectal cancer in those suffering from IBD for over a decade.

In the country, Filipinos are fortunate that an organization has been at the forefront of bringing this disorder to the fore to better understand its symptoms and optimum treatment.

The IBD Club of the Philippines has been in existence for more than 10 years now, led by its president, Dr. Jose Sollano. The Society has been actively conducting quarterly scientific conferences to discuss the disease and to spearhead training and education of medical practitioners, especially beginning practitioners and gastroenterologists.

It also seeks to develop a database of confirmed IBD cases in the Philippines to better and fully understand the disorder’s impact in the medical care of Filipino patients suffering from this condition.

“All these are geared towards the ultimate goal of early and correct diagnosis, in order to help patients receive the appropriate treatment and consequently improve their quality of life,” declares Dr. Sollano.